Red Sox Diaries

Tim Wakefield has reached 10 wins faster than at any time in his career. The 42-year-old pitcher is getting better, not worse as his career reaches its twilight. Does this not send out red flags to anyone else?

He went 10-11 last year and battled injuries. The Red Sox stocked the starting rotation with seven pitchers over the off-season and have a couple of studs developing in the minor leagues. Wakefield’s status on the team was tenouous.

And he’s coming off the controversy of the past few years when he realized that he was tipping his pitches. Some batters saw things that led them to know exactly when Wake was going to throw his patented knuckleball. (One giant clue was when he took the hill to pitch. Another was when he threw the ball toward home plate.) It was a devastating blow to Wakefield’s pitching arsenal.

So now Wakefield has as many wins by the All-Star break as he had all of last year.

Obviously, Wakefield reacted to what was the game passing him by, unwilling to relinquish his role and $4 million paycheck on the team. He was driven to passing Roger Clemens on the all-time Red Sox list for games won. And batters being on to his pitch selection would seriously jeopardize this.

The most damning evidence is that his knuckleball is being clocked regularly at 78 mph whereas his whole career, it averaged only 77.8 mph. Is it just a favorable tail wind in some of the newer ballparks? Is it a longer finger nail on his index finger? Or is it, dare I say, that of which we do not speak?

It makes total sense. His career ERA is down from 4.32 to an anemic 4.18. How?

I think we cannot continue to turn our backs to this type of irresponsible behavior by major leaguers, nee role models, trying to get a couple more miles out of worn tires.

Well, it’s worked for Tim, for what it’s worth. Batters no longer seem to know when you’re going to throw your knuckler. You’re winning games consistently now when in the past, you used to win and lose games. But at what cost? We’ll surely figure out your deception once your knuckler comes in touch with a humid night, a stiff breeze or, the batters get more practice. Then what?

Your ERA will skyrocket back to your career average and the witch hunt will begin, leaving you a broken man who had won only 178 games before this year and stolen at least 10 more this year -- a tainted frame in an otherwise consistent career. Oh, where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?

How will Tim be able to look himself in the mirror after -- what’s that? Phil Niekro won 85 games after turning 42? ... Really? ... Go figure ... Okay, y’know what? ... Forget what I just said ... Please vote for Tim Wakefield for the All-Star game as a reward for his hard work and consistency throughout the years! --- Andy Wasif.

Read more of Andy Wasif on his SportsFanLive page and his own site, The Wasif.